Legend treatment for Ahart

Fresh out of Ithaca College, Fred Ahart arrived in Roscoe in 1969, the year of the Miracle Mets and Neil Armstrong's historic walk on the moon.

JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ

Fresh out of Ithaca College, Fred Ahart arrived in Roscoe in 1969, the year of the Miracle Mets and Neil Armstrong's historic walk on the moon.

Ahart knew only a couple of this about Roscoe at the time — the sleepy hamlet was home to Russ Hodge, a former world record-holder in the decathlon, and legendary basketball coach Clair Bee. Ahart had other options for employment across the state, but he chose Roscoe because the multifaceted job would give him a chance to coach football.

Ahart and his wife, Becky, packed up for Sullivan County, planning on evaluating how long they would stay each year. The year-to-year plan was scrapped a long time ago. Forty-five years later, Fred Ahart is an institution in Roscoe, as well-known and respected as anyone in Sullivan County.

As humble and unassuming as Ahart is, he has a legacy at tiny Roscoe, which will include quite an honor. Roscoe's gym, which measures 62 feet long by 40 feet wide, will be named after him during a ceremony on Jan. 4.

"I appreciate it, but this is a team effort," Ahart said. "This couldn't have been done without a lot of people, especially my family. I appreciate the respect and try to carry myself with dignity and class. I try to treat people with dignity and professionalism. I'm always positive because I think I just enjoy athletics."

According to Becky Ahart, Roscoe's girls' basketball coach for nearly 30 years, school board members Ed Park and Debbie Hendrickson came up with the idea to name the gym after her husband, and the proposition was embraced by Roscoe superintendent John Evans. Fred and Becky Ahart, both natives of Candor, near Ithaca, will be married for 45 years in August. When the couple came to Roscoe, Fred had the title of physical education teacher, athletic director, boys' basketball coach and assistant football coach.

Fred Ahart retired as a Roscoe physical education teacher in 2007, but he has served as the athletic director and boys' basketball coach for 45 years. He has been a head football coach at Roscoe for 35 seasons. Ahart, 66, said he has no plans on retiring anytime soon.

To know Ahart is to know a throwback personality. He is refreshingly polite and genuine — almost old-fashioned. It's no wonder that his respect extends throughout Section 9. Ahart, who has five children and 14 grandchildren, has long been one of the faces of Section 9 athletics. He serves as the Section 9 boys' basketball co-chairman with Rob Gravelle, and is the chairman of the Section 9 eligibility committee.

"Of all the people I've met in coaching, I probably respect Fred as much as anybody," said Gravelle, S.S. Seward's boys' basketball coach. "He goes about it the right way. You almost think he's coming right out of the movie 'Hoosiers.' That's the way he is. He really deserves this, there is no doubt about it."